Tie for extension trackways



Feb. 4, 1936. V 1 HARVEY 2,029,820

TIE FOR EXTENSION TRACKWAYS Filed July 19, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 as '264 z] 2 #29 0 M @J) i 14 19 I 27 12 20 I LZo yaEfhrz/q Feb. 4, 1936. E.HARVEY 2,029,820

TIE FOR EXTENSION TRACKWAYS Filed July 19, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet 2 III! A919 6,

Feb. 4, 1936.

L. HARVEY TIE FOR EXTENSION TRACKWAYS Filed July 19, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet:5

. NN NQ Patented Feb. 4, 1936 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE Lloyd E.Harvey, Logan, Ohio, assignor of onehalf to James H. Keith, Glouster,Ohio Application July 19, 1933, Serial No. 681,151

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in rail ties, and has for aprimary object the provision of an improved tie involving adjustableclamping devices by which a rail may be secured in connection with thetie for adjustment lengthwise of a given trackway in a quick andconvenient manner and without using the customary threaded bolts andnuts.

In mining, excavating and various other constructional activities, it isnecessary to advance wheeled track-mounted machinery over temporarytracks in order to maintain contact of the machinery with a retreatingworking operation. For instance, in coal mines particularly, a maintrackway is laid which leads into a working place or room in which thecoal face or seam to be attacked is located. As the coal is loaded out,the working face retreats from the established trackway and in order to.produce temporary trackways which can be laid up to the working face, itis at present customary to secure to the advanced terminating ends ofthe established trackway continuing rail sections cut into variouslengths to meet the requirements of the retreating face. It isfrequently inconvenient, as well as costly, to provide a working crewwith short rail sections of various sizes to meet the rapidly changingtrack requirements, so that the work of the mine crew is frequentlyinterrupted and their services lost while a suitable temporary track isbeing laid, although in practice, the temporary trackway need be butless than a score of feet in length.

It is a further important object of the present invention to provide atie to which the advanced rail sections of a trackway may be securelyyet readily connected, with the rails of the advanced or temporarytrackway arranged in inverted relationship with respect to the rails ofthe permanent trackway, and wherein the clamping mechanism of myimproved tie structure is such as to securely hold the extension railsin their inverted positions in connection with the permanent rails sothat as the work progresses, the

' said temporary rails may be moved longitudinally along their points ofcontact with the permanent rails and retained in such adjustedpositions, permitting of the advance of machinery thereover, by theimproved tie structure. By this means, the temporary rails may be ofstandard lengths and need not be, as at present, cut into sections ofvarious length, thus providing a considerable saving in rail costs aswell as eliminating delays in excavating or mining operations incidentto the placing of extension trackways,

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features ofconstruction, combination of elements and arrangements of partshereinafter fully described and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a mine trackway, extending to the workingface of a coal seam or the like, and illustrating my improved extensiontrackway in its operative position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken along thetrackway and associated ties;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line III--III ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on the plane indicated by the lineIVIV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the ties;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken through the tiestructure and illustrating its clamping members in engagement with asingle rail;

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the outside clampingplates;

Fig. 8 is a similar view of the inner clamping plate;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken through the tiestructure and illustrating its clamping members in engagement with asingle inverted rail;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the trackway in its operative position.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral I designatesthe customary permanent trackway of for example, the type found in coalmines or in other similar operations over which portable track-mountedmachinery operates. Such a trackway consists of the customary rails 2,ties 3 and their associated fastening devices 4. Such a permanenttrackway can be laid up to the working face only for a certain distance.Usually coal mines employ a crew known as track men whose work it is toadvance a trackway, such as indicated at I, as close as practicable tothe working face. However, such a working face recedes. For instance,the coal or other mineral matter is mined by kerfing the seam,disrupting the face by means of explosive, and is then loaded into minecars as indicated at 5 and removed from the working place. This resultsin the continued receding of the working face from the permanently laidtrackway, and. in order to provide for sustained mining operations. itis necessary to lay temporary track means so that coal cutting or miningmachinery,

wheeled loading machines or the like may be kept in proper contact andefficient working relationship with such a retreating face.

To avoid the necessity and wasteful practice of cutting. standard lengthrails into short lengths of Various sizes to complete such an advancedor emergency trackway, the present invention provides an improved tiewhich forms the basis for the extension trackway, which latter has beenindicated at Ii in Fig. 1 in the drawings. Each tie in the extensiontrackway comprises in its preferred form an inverted channel bar 7 whichis adapted to have its vertical sides 8 arranged to engage directly withthe floor of a mine room, although in certain instances, the bar 1 maybe secured to the upper surface of a standard wooden tie; normally thisis not necessary as the emergency ties are laid directly on the minefloor where the latter is of such quality as to permit this to be done.

Each end of the tie or bar i is provided with a plurality of centrallylocated inner and outer longitudinally extending slots 9 and I6respectively and slidably positioned on the upper surface H at each endof the tie are inner and outer clamping plates I2 and I3 respectively.

Each of the outer clamping plates i3 comprises a flat horizontal bodyportion I l which flatly engages with the upper surface 2! of the tie I,and fastening devices such as threaded bolts, rivets or the like passthrough the outer slots I9 formed in said tie and openings in the bodyportion I l to slidably unite the said outer clamping plates in variouspositions of longitudinal adjustment in connection with the tie.

'Each of the outer clamping plates terminates in a curved outer edge I5,while the inner portion of each of the plates I3 terminates in anupwardly directed short vertical wall It of a height correspondingapproximately to that of the base flange of a rail. The .wall I 6terminates in an inwardly directed extension I! which is adapted toengage with the upper surface of the base fla ge of a rail. Theextension I'l does not possess the full Width of the base flange on oneside of a rail but is materially shorter, and terminates in an upwardlydirected wall I8 which possesses a height substantially less thanonehalf of that of the web of a standard mine rail. The wall I8 thenterminates in an inwardly directed horizontally disposed web I9 and theinner edge of the latter terminates in an upwardly directed verticalwall 251, which is adapted to engage with the vertical side wall of arail web and ends immediately below the ball or head of a standard minerail.

Each of the inner plates 62 comprises a flat horizontally disposed bodyportion 2i which is provided centrally with a plurality of openingsarranged to register with the slots 9 in the tie channel '5, and throughwhich fastening devices such as threaded bolts or nuts, or in certaininstances rivets, pass and slidably and adjustably unite the innerclamping plates to the tie I.

The outer end of the body portion 2i of each plate i2 terminates in anarcuately curved edge 22, while the inner portion of each of the platesI2 terminates in an upwardly directed vertical wall 23, of a heightcorresponding to that of the outer edge of the base flange of a standardmine rail. The wall 23 terminates in an inwardly directed integralextension 2:3, which overlies and firmly engages with the upper surfaceof the outer edge of the base flange of a rail, and the extension 24terminates, in turn, in an upwardly directed wall 25 which is of lesserheight than the corresponding wall I8 of the outer plates and is of suchheight as to be equivalent to that of the ball of a rail when the latteris inverted. The wall 25 terminates in an inwardly directed web 25arranged in a substantially horizontal plane below that of the web I 9,and the web 25 terminates in an upwardly directed vertical wall 2'!which is adapted to engage with the web of a rail.

To maintain these clamping plates in association with either a single ordouble rail arrangement, the arcuate edges I5 and 22 of the plates I2and it are arranged for engagement with the curved edges formed on theends of a pair of bars 28, which are pivoted as at 29 in connection withthe upper surfaces of the ties 7. These pivoted bars serve to advancethe plates I2 and I3 into firm frictional engagement with the sidesurfaces of the rails 2 and B to hold the latter in proper positions ofgage for the advancement of rolling stock thereover.

As shown in the drawings, the rails 6 of the extension trackway arearranged in inverted relationship with respect to the rails 2 of thepermanent trackway. That is, the rails 6 are disposed on the outer sidesof the rails 2 with their base flanges resting on the upper surfaces ofthe heads of the rails 2, and with the heads of the rails 6substantially in contact with the base flanges of the permanent rails.When the rails are thus assembled, the plates I2 and I3 are separatedtheir maximum distance with the shorter ends of the bars 28 in contactwith the arcuate outer edges of said plates. When the inverted railsections 6 are to be advanced, the outer clamps I3 are loosened and therails moved forward the desired distance, the portions of the rails 2which had previously been engaged by the overlapping ends of thesections 6 will be resting on the ties I alone and they must besupported by the plates I2 and I 3. To accomplish this, the outer platesI3 are moved toward the rails 2 until they press against the outersurfaces thereof. They are then secured in place by the nuts and boltsand locked in this position by turning the-longer sides of the bars 28into place against the outer ends of the plates I3. The extended rail 6is then secured by retightening the clamps I3 and the addition of moreties and clamps if necessary. When this occurs, the ties i may beelevated slightly to contact with the head of the inverted rail, and theinner plates I2 are adjusted to directly engage with the webs of suchinverted rails and are held in such engagement by revolving the innerbars 28 so that their longer ends will engage with the arcuate edges 22.By this longitudinal adjustment of the clamping plates, the latter areretained in desired engagement with the rail sides so as to preserve thegage of both the permanent and extension trackway and this isaccomplishd in a single, compact structure wherein separable parts,which are apt to become lost or misplaced, are avoided. The trackway maybe readily laid up to the working face and the extension rails movedlongitudinally at will to conform to the face as the latter retreats.The construction of the ties is simple, rugged, inexpensive and is notlikely to become out of order. Particularly, the tie avoids the use ofshort different length rail sections in the formation of the extensiontrackway, and enables mining or other similar operations to be carriedon in a sustained manner without the usual delays incident to trackwaydevelopments.

What is claimed is:

1. Rail holding means for extension trackways comprising a bar, innerand outer clamps mounted upon each end of said bar, each of said clampsbeing formed to provide an elongated body mounted on the upper surfaceof said bar, said body terminating in a rail-engaging head having ashoulder for abutment with the longitudinal edge of the base flange of arail seated in a normal upright position on said bar, said head beingadditionally provided with a vertical flange disposed to directly engagethe inner surface of a vertical web of a rail and an intermediateshoulder disposed between said first-named shoulder and said flange,said intermediate shoulder being shaped to receive the head of a raildisposed in an inverted position with the ball thereof in engagementwith said bar, and means for securing said clamps in holding engagementwith rails mounted base flanges engaging with the ball of the uprightrail and with the ball of the inverted rail in engagement with one ofthe base flanges of the upright rail and (3) a rail in an invertedposition alone, each of said clamps comprising an elongated body formedto engage with the upper surface of said tie and terminate at itsforward end in a head, said head being provided with three shoulderedofisets, the first of said ofisets engaging with the base flange of arail disposed in a normal upright position on the tie, the second ofsaid offsets being shaped to engage with the ball of an inverted railand the third of said 01T- sets with the web of a rail disposed in anupright or inverted position on said tie, and threaded means formaintaining the relatively adjusted positions of said clamps on said tieand in holding engagement with associated rails.

3. A rail holding clamp for extension trackways comprising a flatelongated tie engaging body, and a rail engaging head integrally formedwith said body and disposed at one end thereof, said head being providedwith three shouldered oflsets disposed in different horizontal levels,the first of said oifsets being formed for engagement with the outeredge of the base flange of a rail, the second of said offsets beingformed to receive the ball of an inverted rail and the third or highestof said offsets being shaped to engage the side of the web of a railarranged in either upright or inverted positions.

LLOYD E. HARVEY.

